"You damned little squirrel!! Why the hell are you eating all of my plants?!! Shoo!! Go away!!" An old man's voice startled the red fox who was grinding its buttocks on the flowers. The fox was just casually extracting pheromones on the plants to attract male foxes, but now he was threatened to run away from the old man's garden.
The fox's tail fluttered freely in the air, its pheromones trailing behind.
When an animal is in heat, they usually have to find a way to somehow seduce its own counterpart to cure this state. To stop this from happening further for the animal in heat, they have to mate with their own mates to stick together during heat.
It's the same as finding a lover to relieve sexual desires. This is referred to as "lust" upon the humanity's community. Though it may be often confused as to whether or not it's a good thing in a relationship without the contentment in their hearts, people used to write opposing poets about lust too.
The red fox jumped over the rift on the ground, crawling towards the close presence from its vision. Cold thick scales of what seemed like a big snake that has a thick body, enough to frighten the tiger's sharp fangs, and yet the fox boldly snuggled closer to it, not fearing anything at all.
A sigh came out from a man's mouth, feeling really frustrated by the fox's indulgence of mating. He watched as the fox nuzzled onto the coldness of his thick scales.
He couldn't explain anymore; humans always have new additions about myths that he couldn't even catch up to. Perhaps he was uncertain of his identity regarding the creature he is. Some said he's a naga, but others call him "big human snake." But for a person who can only change half of his body, from his hips down to his toes, into a cobra-like body, he somehow pictured himself as a naga.
Though it still wouldn't fit right for someone like him, he's not quite certain yet.
Anyway, who was I in the first place? He thought, glancing from the distance as he watched an unknown group of tribesmen sneaking an attack to that old man's house.
Mhm... Let's just stick with the name Fuxiao.
The sun is almost setting, casting blue and red hues in the sky. An incense stick has burned, and the old man's head was shown to be stuck on the spearhead of the intruder's spear, the blood on his slit neck poured down to the shaft of the tribesman's spear, tainting dark red line of this tribesman's history.
Fuxiao's eyes flickered down to the old man's face; his eyes were filled with blankness as well as his stained, crinkled face.
It's likely expected to receive a bigger karma in one's life if they did something particularly sinful. Or perhaps that old man's karma got him pretty late for sure.
Fuxiao turned his head away, leaving the fox in desperation of sexual desire. The forest he's in is quiet as general; trees varies in their kinds with most of it being willow trees; the land too, wasn't as exceptional from the normal grass, but it does stands out from its loftiness. If someone were to stroll around there, they would likely lose their way. That's why trees are different to track their steps. People are often dumb when they panick, they couldn't even notice nature's kindness. Fuxiao even owned a cave of his own.
As he got back inside of his sanctuary, a pool was set in the middle of the space, basking his tail in the calm water. Cleansing the dirt from his scales away in one swift move. The rift above the cave is the same bulk as the water pool. It's embellished with hanging vines that reach down the floor, as its purpose for a veil.
When the moon bore on the horizon, the stars above glowed like an ethereal splinters of a broken crystal; moonlight shines descended upon the water's essence, beaming Fuxiao's figure with the trickling lucent water down his chiseled body; the moonlight lustered.
Fuxiao succumbed himself upon water's embrace, tilting his head up to meet the moon's crescent head. His facial feautures subtly lulled, shutting his eyes as he contemplated.
If he really is that type of creature, then he's afraid to reach the stage of heating in which he would have to find a mate. Ergo, the desire to capitulate himself from those undermining feelings to brush away all the dust from his buried past. Yet he also had a big problem with that-what is it truly like, loving someone unconditionally?
He can't trust anyone if not himself. Assuming that he couldn't care less for anyone else but himself, would he still be able to do this kind of mating thing? How can he even find a true love whilst devoid of important feelings? Is it even possible to find his one and only?
"Tsk," Fuxiao clicked his tongue, breaking the eerie silence that relished the dimly lit space of his cave. Why is he even anxious about that? It's not like he is a creature; he just wanted to know what he is and his own purpose of living in this land.
He raised his hand to block the crescent moon shining from above as if he would capture the moon.
A human's life is shorter than the organic palnts, still, animals have shorter lifespan. He expected to be a human right after he interacted with one after his awakening, yet as he watched the human he befriended get all wrinkled and weak, a question popped up in his mind like it has long been undecided. It must be really cruel watching his friend's head stuck on that sharp thing like it was some ritual.
Death seems extremely inevitable even for someone like him. And it's not like he had experienced it, just a vague feeling he would soon come into that part. He wanted to consider himself as a human, although some kind of curse is always hunting him, especially on one special part.
A light flash blinded Fuxiao's eyes, shutting them close as though he would never open them again. His body tensed even if the water was calm, shifting his position in a curved bow. He doesn't know why, but his heart palpitated like it was stabbed many times without dying. His head was wrapped with a melting iron that prevented him from stopping his racing thoughts.
Fuxiao scratched his chest continuously as he dug his nails deeply into his flesh, leaving bright red wounds on its trail. Regardless of his wounded body, his thoughts created a large maelstrom within his own perception. His lungs had tightened up that he struggled to catch up from his own breaths.
His surroundings started to darken, focusing only the thoughts in his mind. Tears started to form in his closed eyes as his body started to tremble from his intuition.
Why does he find it hard to talk about death occurring on him?
"Please..." His voice quivered, "... Stop..." That was only his last straw before another light flash blinded his eyes as soon as he opened them again, backing out instinctively.
His breaths shortened each passing seconds; eyes darting everywhere, trying to find some coax onto something that he could hold onto. The water around him started to roar from his confused movements, splashing and gurggling. Fuxiao's fingers managed to cling onto the crack on the floor, fixated on it. He brought his other hand to the other crack to bring his body along.
The man crawled on the ground in fraught, as if he's some corpse with no legs that suddenly got controlled. The water ran down from his body to the ground, blending in with the mossy stone.
Eventually, he threw himself onto the bed he stole from a certain house. Gripping the sheets tightly as he nestled to the softness of the mattress. It was still useless after all. He was stuck in one position, and yet his mind kept flashing him with storming thoughts. Fuxiao's tears didn't stop from streaming down; his heart palpitated even more; gritting down his jaw in the sea of wildness.
His breaths soon grew suffocating, burying his face to his knees and wrapping his arms around his leg-Fuxiao curled into a meatball. It had been like this from the moment he learned what death is, curiosity pushed him on the edge, thinking that once one dies from their destined time, they would see nothing but an endless darkness to where nobody could ever see them again.
Fuxiao was just curious about the world, though the unexpected state is pushing him to no good. Faint sobs filled the humid atmosphere, his lips trembling from this stupid thing he couldn't control. He didn't know when he fell asleep. All he knew was that he was already in his dream state.
Whenever he falls asleep, he won't always remember his dreams, just like a normal human. This time, it was like he's regained consciousness from a deep slumber, only awakening this time.
"Huh...?" His voice cracked from the state earlier, taking his surroundings that all of those thoughts were replaced with curiosity as to where he currently is. No normal dream could bring his consciousness at once. This could only mean one thing.
Everything is as light as a golden ingot. He could even feel its radiance to his body, calming his nerves for a bit. Knowing that there should be a source from this thing, Fuxiao's earlier state vanished and was replaced with new curiosity. Like how a rock would make ripples to the waters once it's dropped, the whole place changed to a color blue. The ripple was stronger than the surges of an ocean, stumbling back as it passed through his body. It may be some powerful energy that he could feel it overflowing through his veins.
Another ripple passed. This time, it's the same color earlier. He was prepared and blocked it with his arm, making sure that he would not take too much of energies. It would only corrupt his core. Fuxiao was always prone to physical damages, though his spiritual function may not be great, it would always have a shield to protect himself from any harm, that's why he wasn't afraid to take damages.
When the ripples finally formed, they emitted powerful surges of energies each time. His mind is getting dizzier from the contast changes of bright colors; before he could even close his eyes, a force pulled him in a warm embrace, wrapping it's arms around Fuxiao's body as if they knew their ways. Somehow, his vision was blocked from its silhouette, making it impossible for him to see clearly.
As soon as he opened his eyes, only then did he hear, "Wake..." A soft whisper that caressed his ear drums in a tingling sensation, "Up..."
"Ahh!!" Fuxiao screamed at the top of his lungs as if he had fallen off from a cliff. His body sat up abruptly as he was filled with the mix of his sweat and the pool's water. The field of his vision blurred before he could regain some focus once again; sinking himself to his palms, he let us a deep sigh.
Another "what was that?" And another "what in the names of heaven and earth just happened?"
"Wake up? Like I could wake up, ptui!" He spat, crossing his arms. "I was half conscious at that time. You could have interrupted me from crying. Now my eyes feel stingy," he complained, impersonating an average human's behavior.
Fuxiao's eyes rolled endlessly, shifting himself to a more comfortable position to sleep back. Unexpectedly, his body felt light and dainty to sleep. He could even feel that prickle from the small of his back. Feeling annoyed by this part of him, he sat back up again to do his usual thinking ritual.
"Dang it, I hate the thought of touching someone with those... Sticky fluid thingy," his organs fell down from their places, struggling to place them back into pieces as he mumbled his thoughts. "D-don't tell me sweats a-are involved in those..."
Yes.
He lost his face's pigmentation, now hugging his legs and craddling like a baby. Those things are just not for him. How did he even get into this kind of conclusion anyway? What he wanted the most was to find his mate that could prevent him from experiencing that state again, a "mate" that could help him out.
Actually, planning for an adventure that seeks advice from people who could have possibly known his identity is probably the right thing for him, too. Knowing his purpose and real past could help him out a lot. Yet he's already struggling with a somewhat curse in which he has to find someone in truthful to helping him resolve that problem.
Once that person is found, he should keep them by his side until his true identity. But there's only one rule, if he gets too attached by this person, he have to make sure that he could trust them enough that they wouldn't leave by his side no matter who he truly is.
With that, Fuxiao stood up from his bed and snatched his folded clothes on the table he created. He built that thing by memory, but it ended up looking like woods that were piled up to make a table. As soon as he puts them on, he walks out from his cave with entrance that looks like some creature's hideout. This time, he wanted to find something valuable of his fogged memory; in fact, Fuxiao actually spends all of his time trying to reciprocate the human's attitude, and while he's doing that, he gradually grew through their demeanor.
"Another day in a life, hoping no crystal-clear blooming flowers would come waste my time," Fuxiao murmured, crouching down to fiddle his fingers against the jasmine flow
"Impressive, my luck isn't quite bad after all," the line was sarcastic, yet his tone was dead. Almost as if he had known this would happen.
Fuxiao found his way to the middle of the forest, following down the tracks of the willow trees. He forgot that he planted these trees after he found a box with seeds packed inside of a sealed pouch. There's also a note in which he didn't notice right before he threw the whole box on a cliff. The letter was falling slowly, he was late to notice it since the box was covering the paper, it was made of wood, so it was falling faster than the paper. However, it was none of his concern. He thought that it was great to plant the seeds from the entrance of his cave out of the forest.
And so, he didn't know it was a willow tree seed. It was also a very long time ago, the trees were already higher than a house, he was ashamed of being careless back then, but who could blame him? What kind of person would read a random note even though they're illiterate?
Not him; he's not a person anyway.
What he could remember every time he saw these willow trees was that he cursed right after it grew something different than usual: "Oh nuts..."
His steps were light, mumbling something like an incantation, "Wandering leaves and whispering wind? How could I read if it's unnecessary to communicate with a human who could understand my words? Not unless they couldn't hear everything, of course."
Fuxiao rubbed his chin, pondering over something, "Whoever left that box is a very stupid person. There are also blood stains on that thing, I was having a very hard time touching it. Buuuuut, I was filled with curiosity, too."
He stumbled on his feet, feeling something beneath before he fell onto the ground in a loud thump. He doesn't have time to react as he is too focused on his weird mumbling habit. Now that Fuxiao was lying on his stomach, face now dirtier than the mud undernearth him. He was trying so hard to keep this face cleansed, but it was spoilt just because he was too careless to act fast?
His face grew bright red from embarrassment, feeling his heart beating out of his chest from the shamefulness, "Why, I have to eliminate y... ou...?" Fuxiao's sentence lingered in the air by the time he saw a face so clean and exceptional from the others.
Whose son of barbaric beauty is this? Why did they leave this face somewhere in the middle of the forest?
Fuxiao looked around, noticing how the ground was as if though it was dug by a giant creature. The trees around him were either burnt or halved; around the man was charred from head to toe. Aside from those, this random guy is the suspect of tripping Fuxiao.
Not forgiving this kind of act, he gripped the man's feet and started dragging him back to his cave. Just like that, Fuxiao forgot about his main reason for trekking.
Who descends in the middle of dawning? Whether or not they are clean, it was still the same person who tripped him.
***
They arrived inside his cave, pulling the man to his bed. This man's lucky enough that the back of his head didn't bleed from bumping sharp rocks while being carried like a dead corpse. He was still breathing, of course.
Fuxiao checked his pulse and dragged him down to his little pool. Even the moss disintegrated from the man's brutal situation. What's worse than being dragged unconsciously?
The pool was still in a laminar flow, its color being light green with an emitting energy from a distance away. It created a big crown as soon as the man was pushed in, and Fuxiao came after, producing more ripples on the water. If the water has its own pair of lips, it would complain how severe it was treated even though it didn't do anything. Fuxiao could imagine it complaining with those big lips.
He extended his arms to the man, catching him before he went all the way down to the depths of his little pool. The man's clothes melted off, grasping the outlines of his body. The second the man is finally naked, Fuxiao swam back to the surface, leaning back on the edge with the man on his side.
"Hmph, I'll let you rot in hell once you wake up, you little rascal!" He said while cleaning up the man's wounds. Water is something that combines blood and some spiritual energy.
It heals any physical injuries, though he couldn't heal any dead beings or the ones that have already withered away. The water could bring back lives before their primordial spirit has gone out of their body. In any way, this water is useless to revive a deceased creature.
The wounds in the man's body have vanished away, revealing only his sculpted body. It appears to be a well-trained body for some reason, being all chunky with those muscles. Fuxiao wondered how this man even got those while he gobbles up any healthy foods he finds.
The man's face has sharp features which reflects his grandeur; that hair color is similar to an amber that goes darker to the tips, although it may not be that long, his hair would atleast reach up to shoulder-length. People usually have hairs that go down to their waists, sometimes even longer than that.
***
Fuxiao dragged the man out of his pool and threw him back to the bed, all wet from the water. He didn't even realize the weight this man have, he's much heavier to make Fuxiao change into that half snake form.
What a successful hard work!
Fuxiao placed his hands on his hips, smiling faintly from what he claimed hard-work, "Phew! What a very exhausting thing you are! You better repay me with something valuable once you wake up," he threatened; lecturing the man with his forefinger pointing at him.
Is this even called threatening or helping? Fuxiao wondered. He shrugged his shoulders and finally realized something.
"Oh yeah! I was about to steal another stuff!" He exclaimed, "Silly me. Now, I have wasted my time for this pathetic little thing. Also, you better not move an inch, or else I'll stab you on your throat."
Like hell he does, he can't even kill an ant because it might leave a smelly stain on him. If he was trapped in a room with rats, he might recall his past memories and might even fly. Who wants to live in that kind of place?
There was this one time Fuxiao saw a rat carrying a steamed bun. Stopping from his movements, he turned his head slowly to the rat, during which the rat brought its head up to him, staring at each other in oblivion. The rat halted, thinking that Fuxiao might kill him. Yet Fuxiao thought that this rat would hunt and smudge him with its smelly, foul skin.
It took over for a long time before a cat chased after the rat, lifting off Fuxiao's shoulders as if he carried heavy boulders. To tell anyone, it was as traumatizing as falling off of a cliff unknowingly.
Just the thought of it made him shiver again. He could even remember the smell that thing had.
Right after his little self-conflicting pondering, Fuxiao brought himself to a nearby town from his forest.
"I want two loquats and three steamed buns." Fuxiao suggested, startling the vendor who was just talking to one of his customers. The moment he saw a familiar figure, a large grin cracked open on his mouth, revealing his tarnished broken teeth.
Fuxiao was holding back his mouth from blabbering out his thoughts, keeping them to himself as he was only there to buy food.
"Aiyoo, you again, ah?" The vendor teased.
The town nearby his forest has known him for a long time now, seeing him early in the morning is one of Fuxiao's casualties especially when the vendor he always visits for food became his acquaintance for some reason.
The vendor prepared two loquats in a sealed cloth, with another three steamed buns covered with papers. He gave Fuxiao a bright smile after receiving the cowrie shells from him.
"Good to see you, young man. Have a nice day!" He said his farewell before continuing his conversation with the person earlier.
Oh, Fuxiao? Stealing? Hah! He may have stolen stuff before, but no, not on Fuxiao's watch; he's far too good to be known as a thief. Also, he can't afford being too cheap to steal... Okay, maybe sometimes, but something that just doesn't value much.
Take a vase with cloud patterns as an example.
Fuxiao walks back to the forest. The sun had finally risen above, creating crystalline bright blue sky above; clouds casting the sky with ashen white. Vision as clear as a water, he daintily skipped towards his destination.
"Alooo~ I'm back~" he said this with a high-pitched voice, almost like he's singing. His mood turned over from the sight of his willow trees, raising them is a very hard decision. Thus, his day would lightly brighten from his willow trees. After he came back to his sanctuary, his atmosphere rubbed out his temples, bringing sparkling stars on the sides of his face.
A faint smile played along his lips, gracing his smooth visage. Once he's unusually happy, he always keeps his temper on check.
Fuxiao brought the food near the bedside table, grabbing his own hand-made broom to sweep away the fallen mosses from the ceiling of his cave. He hummed a little song, sweeping all the mosses away as his hips swayed along. The cave was filled with lively air despite the unconscious man on his bed.
Just as he finished brooming the floor clean, he wiped the sweats away from his forehead. Feeling a bit hotter than usual, he drew closer back to the man, noticing how the man's posture had changed.
"Oh?" He let out a curious hum, poking the man's cheek with his broom. "Just wake up if you -"
A small gasp left his throat instantly when he was pulled back on the bed, enwrapped by the soothing embrace of the man. Feeling the loss of connection to his temperament, he struggled to free from the man's grip.
"Darn it!" He cursed, giving up, and crossed his arms over his chest. Fuxiao's eyes glared at the man's face, tearing that precious skin of his. If he was a ghost, he would undoubtedly use this man's skin daily.
Although, he surprisingly found this man's heat quite sedative to him. That fox yesterday didn't do much. Even though it's on its heat, this man's body is warm enough to soften his hard, thick scales.
"I'll get you back once you wake up," threatening the man as he distanced himself a bit. He settled down, his eyelids heavy from this unique tepidity.
Losing control of himself, his eyelids fell down. Fuxiao hopes that it wouldn't be another one of those dreams he experiences every time he falls asleep. Maybe that's the reason why he is feeling a bit comfortable right now.
Because he lacks sleep.